Utah Adventure Journal

“When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water.” –Benjamin Franklin With a record-breaking winter and the subsequent water associated with over 700 inches of snow, hydrology and flooding has been on everyone’s mind this spring and summer.  Living in a high desert, the retention and management of life-giving water is a high […]

Recently, Frank Hugelmeyer of the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) wrote an op-ed piece in the Salt Lake Tribune taking our state leaders to task for neglecting to preserve public lands, despite the overwhelming evidence of significant economic benefits to the State. OIA is a trade association for companies in the active outdoor recreation business. OIA […]

  Bullfrog, Utah Each summer I do penance at Lake Powell for the eco-sins of the West. This summer was no exception as I worked on the Trash Tracker houseboat picking up trash in 108 degree heat along 1,900 miles of shoreline. Our team found the usual amount of beer cans, soda cans, diapers, toys, […]

  Cedar Mesa, Utah Standing on a wide stone shelf, looking across canyon as mid-morning sun lit the opposite side, I stood in silence viewing Moon House for the first time. I stared at the complex of 800-year-old rooms with multiple doorways. Here was an entire stone village with both McElmo style and Mesa Verde […]

The name alone should have given me pause: “For Desert Rats Only.” As I began to lead the first pitch, gingerly placing my first few pieces of gear, I marveled at how chossy and sandy the crack was, as well as how much it flared. As I ascended about 25 feet off the ground, the […]

I’m sitting at the dining room table of professional cyclist Evan Hyde. The 26-year-old Park City resident curves his rounded rider’s shoulders around Eddie, a mutt with an old-man beard, as if he’s holding a baby. Evan kisses Eddie’s head, and the dog’s arms and legs go lax. “What can I say?” says Evan when […]

A constant hum, like an airless wind, echoes through towers and canyons. Men toil in this place, skiers, runners, and mountain bikers alike. They work together for a noble cause between the imposing forms, each tower as cold as a granite wall in shadowed morning. The men move like scientists; mixing, pouring, and analyzing. Instead […]

Open Question: A Perfect Pair of Lone Climbs Lone Peak Cirque is a little piece of heaven perched high above the heat, traffic, and noise of the Wasatch Front. It’s hard not to feel a “life elevated” when you sit on a belay ledge at 11,000′ watching 1.6 million people zooming around Provo and Salt […]

Mill Creek and Indian Creek Everyone knows, or at least they should, that the Millcreek swim hole in Moab rocks. Only a mile from the trailhead off Powerhouse Lane., surrounded by slickrock and deep enough to jump into from ledges eight to ten feet above the pool, this easy refuge sees a lot of traffic.  […]

I don’t run, never have and never thought I would. I took pride in that statement, as if running was beneath me and my egocentric skier, mountain biker and rock climber image. I thought to run was to be a pedestrian, and I scribed an arms-length of reasons not to lace up a pair of […]